Parents make a big difference just by talking

The think tank’s education director Andreas Schleicher explains how much positive impact can come from simple changes such as parents taking time to talk to their children and eating a meal together.

Perhaps the most distressing threat to student well-being is bullying, and it can have serious consequences for the victim, the bully and bystanders.

This international study shows how widespread this can be, across borders and cultures, in schools of many different kinds.

On average, across OECD countries, about 11% of teenagers reported they were frequently mocked, 7% were “left out of things”, 8% were the subject of hurtful rumours and about 4% – that is still roughly one per class – were being hit or pushed around.